The incidence of obesity and the number of people considered overweight in countries where a so-called Western diet is adopted has increased over the last decade. Since obesity and being overweight are associated with a variety of diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and arthereosclerosis, this increase is a major health concern. Furthermore, being overweight is considered by the majority of the Western population as unattractive.
This has led to an increasing interest by consumers in their health and has created a demand for products which help to reduce or control daily caloric intake and/or control body weight and/or bodily appearance. Preferably, such products can be added to ordinary foodstuffs, or they can be consumed prior to, during, after or instead of an ordinary meal. Consuming such a composition should, ideally, increase and/or prolong the feeling of satiety for the consumer and/or extend the time interval between meals and/or reduce the amount of calories consumed in a subsequent meal.
Recognising the demand for efficient and convenient satiety-inducing products, research has been carried out to find compounds that stimulate the release of certain peptides associated with signaling, or causing, the feeling of satiety. These peptides are referred herein as “satiety peptides”. Such satiety peptides include, for example, cholecystokinin (CCK), enterostatin, somatostatin, amylin and glucagon-like-peptides (GLP), such as glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1).
Although a great number of molecules or compositions have been suggested to be active in stimulating the release of one of the aforementioned satiety peptides, only very few of them have been derived from natural products and/or can be used in food products.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,638 discloses a nutritional composition stimulating the release of CCK, the composition comprising a) a protein selected from casein, whey and soy, b) a glycomacropeptide, c) a long chain fatty acid, and d) soluble and insoluble fibers. Whey protein hydrolysates are not disclosed and no teaching is given of the release of both CCK and glucagon-like-peptides by the whey protein.
WO 01/37850 discloses a milk protein hydrolysate inducing the release of glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1). Caseino-glycomacropeptide has not been found to stimulate the cellular release of CCK.
WO 02/15719 discloses nutritional compositions comprising hydrolysed whey proteins to provide reduced satiety effects from the compositions. The nutritional compositions are intended for people suffering from reduced appetite such as those convalescing and anorexia suffers.
WO 99/49741 discloses a method for providing glutamine to a patient in need thereof. The glutamine may be provided by a whey protein or a whey protein hydrolysate. Hydrolysed sweet whey may be used but no further details are given of suitable types.
US 2002/0044988 discloses compositions and methods that stimulate body protein synthesis to improve muscle mass maintenance and recovery. Whey protein hydrolysates may be used in the compositions.
EP-A-1 201 137 discloses a method of preparation of cysteine/glycine rich peptides. Hydrolysed whey protein isolates are disclosed.
EP-A-1 034 704 discloses enteral nutritional compositions that may comprise hydrolysates of milk proteins.
WO 01/43563 discloses milk protein hydrolysates for use in compositions to be used to reduce the epidemiologically established risk of diabetes mellitus type I.
Whey based energy drinks are also known in the art. Designer Whey Protein Blast drinks (ex Next Proteins, California, USA) comprises β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin and are used as food supplements for building muscle mass. The drinks comprise very low levels of carbohydrates and no fat and thus the calories are provided predominantly from the protein. A bottle of 20 American ounces (about 600 ml) of the drink comprises no fat, 1 g carbohydrate and 17 g protein. The drinks are expressly instructed not to be used for weight reduction.
Powders to produce drinks comprising β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin, and such drinks, are known for blood pressure lowering applications. A powder produced by Davisco Foods International (Minnesota, USA) comprises 20 g of β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin, 1 g of fat and 6 g of carbohydrate per 30 g of powdered product. The powders can be mixed with water or milk to produce the drink. No disclosure is made of use in satiety control applications. The powders and drinks provide over 55% of the total calories in the powder or drink (when made with water or cow's milk) from the protein content.
However, despite the above developments, there is still a need in the art for edible compositions which provide a good satiety effect for consumers, especially those wishing to control their calorie intake and/or body weight. Furthermore, there is a need to provide such products which help with the adherence to a dietary programme, especially a calorie controlled diet or with otherwise controlling calorie intake. There is also a need for edible compositions which can be used to help improve or control perception of body image or body weight.
In particular, there is a need for edible compositions which provide an improved satiety effect compared to conventional food products or conventional diet/meal replacement products. There is also a need to provide edible compositions which have an acceptable taste as well as providing good satiety effects, e.g. the products are not too sweet, nor, too bitter.
In particular, there is a need for meal replacement products which provide one or more of the above effects and/or advantages.
The present invention seeks to address one or more of the above-mentioned problems.
In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide edible compositions which have a good satiety effect.
It is also an object of the invention to provide edible compositions which have an improved satiety effect compared to conventional food products or to conventional diet/meal replacement products.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a method to help the consumer to comply with a dietary plan, to control body weight and/or to improve or maintain the perception of body image.